Summary
The senior class president at a Wichita high school was suspended for the rest of the year for suggesting that his school isn't all that at sports. Wesley Teague made this suggestion through a tweet, which didn't have any cursing or incitement to violence. A local paper, The Wichita Eagle, reported that the Heights High School takes its sports very seriously. Their school is referred to as "Heights U," suggesting their sport teams are at university level. Wesley Teague tweeted: "'Heights U' is equivalent to WSU's football team." The author explained that WSU hasn't had a football team since 1986.
A woman from Heights U told The Wichita Eagle: "There was a negative reaction from many students, including threats of fights in the school. It caused a major disruption to the school day. Other students were also suspended." Teague told the Eagle: "I guess I hurt a group of people's feelings...and I got suspended for the rest of my senior year. People get their feelings hurt every day." Heights U relied on its code of conduct when they suspended him. Their code of conduct contains vague phrases such as the idea of maintaining acceptable behavior.
The policy tried this definition: "The common standard against which behavior is measured is that which is conducive to learning and a contributor to the general purpose and welfare of the school." The article also states how Teague was actually a member of his school's track team and after he got suspended, his girlfriend left him because she didn't agree with his tweet.
Reason for choosing this article
I chose this article because the title caught my eye and made me laugh for a second. I couldn't believe this at first, so I just had to read it. I remember kids getting suspended all the time in high school, but I couldn't see someone getting suspended for this action. I was so surprised by the school's decision that I had to find out why they chose to suspend him.
Personal and Social Values at stake and ethical implications
High school students are normally suspended for fights, excessive cursing, threatening others, and other violent actions. I would have never thought someone would get suspended from a Tweet they posted. I've heard of students getting in trouble or suspended for posting hate crimes and threats online, but this isn't a threat or anything. He merely stated his own opinion in the tweet and there should have been no harm to him from that. I understand his school takes sports very seriously, but suspension for the remainder of his senior year was unnecessary. I think it would have been more ethical to maybe suspend him for a few days and get the school back in order. The school linked his behavior to their code of conduct as he violated "acceptable behavior." But who is this acceptable to? Is the behavior supposed to be acceptable to school authorities or what? Their code of conduct needs to be more specific if they wish to suspend their students so casually.
Credibility of its sources
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. Chris used Teague's Twitter posts, The Wichita Eagle, Heights High School's code of conduct and staff.
The senior class president at a Wichita high school was suspended for the rest of the year for suggesting that his school isn't all that at sports. Wesley Teague made this suggestion through a tweet, which didn't have any cursing or incitement to violence. A local paper, The Wichita Eagle, reported that the Heights High School takes its sports very seriously. Their school is referred to as "Heights U," suggesting their sport teams are at university level. Wesley Teague tweeted: "'Heights U' is equivalent to WSU's football team." The author explained that WSU hasn't had a football team since 1986.
A woman from Heights U told The Wichita Eagle: "There was a negative reaction from many students, including threats of fights in the school. It caused a major disruption to the school day. Other students were also suspended." Teague told the Eagle: "I guess I hurt a group of people's feelings...and I got suspended for the rest of my senior year. People get their feelings hurt every day." Heights U relied on its code of conduct when they suspended him. Their code of conduct contains vague phrases such as the idea of maintaining acceptable behavior.
The policy tried this definition: "The common standard against which behavior is measured is that which is conducive to learning and a contributor to the general purpose and welfare of the school." The article also states how Teague was actually a member of his school's track team and after he got suspended, his girlfriend left him because she didn't agree with his tweet.
Reason for choosing this article
I chose this article because the title caught my eye and made me laugh for a second. I couldn't believe this at first, so I just had to read it. I remember kids getting suspended all the time in high school, but I couldn't see someone getting suspended for this action. I was so surprised by the school's decision that I had to find out why they chose to suspend him.
Personal and Social Values at stake and ethical implications
High school students are normally suspended for fights, excessive cursing, threatening others, and other violent actions. I would have never thought someone would get suspended from a Tweet they posted. I've heard of students getting in trouble or suspended for posting hate crimes and threats online, but this isn't a threat or anything. He merely stated his own opinion in the tweet and there should have been no harm to him from that. I understand his school takes sports very seriously, but suspension for the remainder of his senior year was unnecessary. I think it would have been more ethical to maybe suspend him for a few days and get the school back in order. The school linked his behavior to their code of conduct as he violated "acceptable behavior." But who is this acceptable to? Is the behavior supposed to be acceptable to school authorities or what? Their code of conduct needs to be more specific if they wish to suspend their students so casually.
Credibility of its sources
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. Chris used Teague's Twitter posts, The Wichita Eagle, Heights High School's code of conduct and staff.